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In the wrong place at the wrong time? Tough luck, says the state of Colorado. If you are arrested the police will charge you a $25 booking fee. If you can't pay on the spot, don't worry, they'll bill you. Even if charges are dismissed, or you are aquitted, you still pay a price! But fear not, if you can prove you are innocent (beyond reasonable doubt) you can get your money back. This is not something new, but something that people should be aware of.
Charon writes:
There is a case before the US Supreme Court, Nelson v. Colorado, which will be argued on Jan. 9, regarding the difficulty of getting fees and penalties refunded when defendants are found innocent.
And it's not just Colorado. Another case from Minnesota:
Corey Statham had $46 in his pockets when he was arrested in Ramsey County, Minn., and charged with disorderly conduct. He was released two days later, and the charges were dismissed.
But the county kept $25 of Mr. Statham's money as a "booking fee." It returned the remaining $21 on a debit card subject to an array of fees. In the end, it cost Mr. Statham $7.25 to withdraw what was left of his money.
The Supreme Court will soon consider whether to hear Mr. Statham's challenge to Ramsey County's fund-raising efforts, which are part of a national trend to extract fees and fines from people who find themselves enmeshed in the criminal justice system.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Thursday December 29 2016, @03:21PM
As I recall, they do something similar for speeding tickets in... Germany? I guess they got tired of rich bastards driving recklessly in overpowered cars and just considering a fine part of the cost of the game, so changed things so that the fines are similarly painful to everyone. Sounded like it worked pretty well too.
Make that the norm, and yeah, you'd soon see illegitimate fines eliminated.
(Score: 2) by aclarke on Thursday December 29 2016, @03:41PM
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday December 29 2016, @09:39PM
From Wikipedia: [wikipedia.org]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.